AWOLNATION, now there is a band I haven’t heard of in a long time so when I saw it on the request list I knew I had to jump at the chance to go check the show out.
With their new album out called Run (released March 17, 2015), what better way to support it than a tour?
I get a kick out of watching the people in line waiting to go inside the Sound Academy in Toronto. Some were dancing about while others seemed a little bored, who knows how long they had waited there. And as you walked up to the venue, Indie88 was there giving free high fives to everyone. How nice.
The first band up was Parade of Lights. They are from Los Angeles and I was actually surprised at how responsive the audience was to this band. Normally most people are there to see the headliners but from the cheers going on at the end of their songs, you would think they were here solely to see them. The whole band was very energetic and seemed to be having a great time on stage. Their song Golden was the 2014 Sochi Olympics promos for the games on NBC.
Then Family of the Year hit the stage, the first few songs were fairly mellow but they sped it up as their set went on. The crowd was very responsive. They of course played their song Hero from the movie Boyhood that was released in 2014. Their folk music sound definitely won over the crowd.
Finally, the headliner AWOLNATION walked on the stage. The first thing that I noticed was how dark the lighting was, almost to the point you couldn’t see them. The crowd didn’t seem to mind one bit. Cheering their heads off singing and dancing to every song. Even at one point I had one exuberant fan try to dance with me as I was writing my review. Though, I think he was a little upset that I couldn’t be bothered at the moment.
As the night progressed Aaron Bruno seemed to feed off the audience running from one side of the stage to the other singing his heart out. Just before the band played the next song, Aaron said “I feel like the floor is ready to f******g explode with this one…” then they broke into their hit Kill Your Heros.
I walked around the venue a couple times to get the vibe of the audience and from front to back everyone was boping their heads to every beat of every song.
During All I Need, Aaron asked everyone to “put their arms around the person next to you, especially if you don’t know them” everyone in the crowd happily obliged him.
The acoustics in the Sound Academy once again was top notch, the screaming guitars and crowd screams at the same time were deafening. The room was jam packed so you can just imagine how loud it actually was.
It was a night from Los Angeles based bands and I think every left fully satisfied.
Thanks to Live Nation Ontario for media access.
